


Tell Me He'll Keep It

by SweetbunThorn



Category: Persona 5
Genre: Comfort, Friendship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-10-27
Packaged: 2019-08-08 06:16:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 976
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16424000
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SweetbunThorn/pseuds/SweetbunThorn
Summary: “You can cry, it’s okay.”





	Tell Me He'll Keep It

**Author's Note:**

> So  
> uh  
> me saying "Gimme a fic where Ann comforts Ryuji" followed by "Gimme that sweet friendship." Spawned this.
> 
> Enjoy some platonic Ryuji and Ann,  
> Also, it's up to the you guys if you think Ryuji and Akira are dating in this or not.

_I’m sure you ain’t gonna die. It’s you, after all._

 

The words Ryuji had said play over and over in Ann’s head as she sits on her bed, staring out the window into the night sky. Everyone had left the palace silently as the police had caught Akira, Ann and Yusuke had to keep Ryuji from running back to help him out. Once they left the metaverse, Ryuji had taken off and now he wasn’t answering his phone. Ann groaned and laid on the bed, she could understand why he left, but to not answer anything was what was worrying her.

 

“Ryuji… where are you?”

 

Someone seemed to be listening as she hear her doorbell ring followed by heavy knocking on the door. Ann swiftly climbed out of her bed and made her way downstairs.

 

“Ryuji?”

 

The ex-track star stood in the doorway; his shirt was drenched, his school jacket was gone, there were scuff marks on his knees, and his hair was still dripping wet. Ann moved aside and the blond lumbered in, limping and looking down right pathetic.

 

She decided to lighten the mood. “Geez, what did you do? Fall in the the lake?”

 

No response.

 

“Ryuji?”

 

Still nothing.

 

She moved to place her hand on his shoulder. “Damn, you’re freezing.” Ann quickly ushered him up the stairs. “To the shower with you!”

 

The pigtailed blonde’s worry only grew more as she heard the shower start up from behind the bathroom door. Taking a deep breath, she went back into her room and dug through her closet. Surely, there was something that she had in Ryuji’s size buried deep within.

 

“Ah-ha!” She pulled out one of her more baggy jackets. “Oh wait… this is the unicorn one.” Ann shrugged and threw it on her bed. “He’ll have to make do. Now for pants…”

 

After a few minutes of searching and finding no pants in Ryuji’s size, she sighs and plucks a pair of woman’s boxers out from her draw and throws that on the bed next to the hoodie.

 

“Now to check on Ryuji.”

 

She knocks on the bathroom door and pokes her head in. Ryuji’s clothes are on the floor and he’s sitting on the floor in a towel; arms crossed and resting on the edge of the tub as he stares out into nothing.

 

“Ryuji.” Ann speaks softly. “I’m going to wash your clothes. I have ones you can wear on my bed.” The teen grabbed the discarded clothes and quickly threw them in the washing machine.

 

She took her time returning to her room, in case the male was still getting dressed. Ann stands in the doorway of her bedroom and looks at her friend with a heartbroken look on her face. She’d never see Ryuji like this before… normally he’d put on a smile (even a fake one) and tell her that he was fine, but this side of the blond is one not a lot of people see. Ryuji was sitting on the bed, dressed in the bright blue unicorn hoodie and the pair of blue and white striped boxers. His knees were drawn up to his chest and his brown eyes were dull in color.

 

“Ryuji.” She walked over to him and sat down on the plush mattress. “Talk to me. What’s on your mind?”

 

His voice is so quiet that Ann has to move closer just to hear him. “Akira. What if.. What if he can’t convince Niijima? What if…” He trails off, but she knows what he’d trying to say.

 

_What if he dies?_

 

“C’mon now. Akira’s been through worse.”

 

Ryuji shakes his head and the unicorn face moves with the movement. “Nothin’ like this Ann. He could die and no one’s gonna be there to bring him back. He could be dead and we just don’t know.”

 

She rubs the back of his back. “Is that what caused you to run off?”

 

“I should’ve gone instead of him.” He whispers. “I’m faster, I know how to grab people’s attention. I should be in that room and not him. He should be out here, talkin’ up plans with Makoto or going over somethin’ with Futaba.”

 

“And have you do something just as dangerous as Akira?” Ann shakes her head. “He’d never let you do that-”

 

“And I should’ve had let him take off!” Ryuji’s outburst doesn’t even startle Ann. “I should be there! In that room! Dealin’ with all the shit comin’ my way! I can-” He pauses and takes in a shaking breath, tears have started to gather in his eyes. “I can handle it! He can’t!”

 

“Ryuji-”

 

“I told him to come back and he promised he would.” The teen’s very close to outright crying and the model can tell he’s preventing himself from doing just that. “Ann, tell me he keeps the promise.”

 

“He’ll keep it.” She responses with no hesitation, looking directly into those brown eyes.

 

He goes quiet and looks down at his knees.

 

“Ryuji.”

 

“...What?”

 

“You can cry, it’s okay.”

 

The reaction is instantaneous, Ryuji lets loose a cry as tears stream down his cheeks. Ann brings the teen into a hug, which he returns after he unwraps himself. She hums softly as he sobs into her shoulder. Ryuji never shows this vulnerable side to anyone, only his mother and Akira, but neither are here. Ann becomes one of the few people to see this and she’ll take this to the grave with her. Seeing Ryuji Sakamoto cry is not an experience she ever wants to live through again.

 

She leans back on the bed and brings Ryuji with her, rubbing his back as she comforts him. They stay like that until the sobs die down and the teen falls asleep. Ann looks at him and brushes her fingers through his hair.

 

“He’ll come back, Ryuji. He’ll keep his promise.”

**Author's Note:**

> Gimme more platonic Ryuji and Ann.


End file.
